UTC defensive backs coach Jonathan Cooley talks with defensive back Cameron Turner (16) during the first day of fall practice at Scrappy Moore Field on Monday, July 24, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Turner transferred from Nevada.Defensive backs coach Jonathan Cooley has left the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for a similar position at Football Bowl Subdivision program Kent State.
Bruce Feldman of Sports Illustrated was the first to report it, and it was confirmed by UTC to the Times Free Press.
Cooley is the Mocs' third defensive coach to leave for the Golden Flashes, joining defensive coordinator Tom Kaufman and defensive line coach Brian Cochran. He played at John Carroll, then spent time at NCAA Division III Millikin University and Bluffton University before returning to his alma mater to work under current UTC head coach Tom Arth.
He was a 2016 defensive graduate assistant at the University of Kentucky before coming to Chattanooga, where he coached the cornerbacks and helped a unit that allowed the fewest passing yards per game (163.2) in the Southern Conference, a number that ranked 11th in the country.
Cooley becomes the fifth defensive coach to take a new position since Arth arrived last January. His first defensive coordinator, Brandon Staley, took a position as outside linebackers coach with the Chicago Bears, and his first outside linebackers coach, Demarcus Covington, is a defensive assistant with the New England Patriots.
Also, running backs coach Shawn Bryson, the lone on-field holdover from former coach Russ Huesman's staff, left for a high school head coaching job in North Carolina.
Cooley's departure leaves two defensive coaches on the Mocs staff: Matthew Feeney, the inside linebackers coach who was promoted to defensive coordinator after Kaufman left; and outside linebackers coach Shelton Felton, who recently was promoted to assistant head coach.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.